


On the Way to the Party

by BitterTongue



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, New Year's Eve, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 08:58:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17241329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterTongue/pseuds/BitterTongue





	On the Way to the Party

Consciousness flooded you suddenly. You could think and imagine and you knew you were awake but your body had yet to respond. Hearing came next, noises growing louder and clearer as if you had just emerged from a pool of water. There were so many unfamiliar sounds: beeping, something creaking, an occasional loud squeak. None of it made sense. You tried to lift your tired lids, to find explanations for the sounds around you, but it was like they were weighed down, never up long enough for your blurry vision to clear. You opened your mouth and tried to speak but found your tongue dry and useless where it lay between your teeth. Your mouth tasted foul and even though you couldn't articulate you could let out a throaty sound of discomfort.  
The touch came so suddenly, a presence you hadn't noticed before. A hand rested on yours and something cool was gently placed on your forehead. You struggled to open your eyes, fighting harder to win the fight with your body, because you could smell him and even if you knew nothing else of your surroundings you knew him.  
“Bucky.” you tried to say, though all that came out was a cracked, slurred rendition of the name you could say forever. Your eyelids still struggled and your arms felt anchored to your sides. You began to panic and the frantic beeping in your left ear only encouraged your mental frenzy. Bucky's voice was low and soothing as he shushed you, tried to calm you.   
“Babydoll, everything is okay. Calm down. Here.”   
Against your lips you felt something hard and chilly, your instincts kicked in and you opened your mouth as far as you could. Water dribbled out the corners of your lips but enough stayed in your mouth to give you a hearty swallow. You felt better almost instantly, alive and renewed. Your eyes opened and you managed to keep them open.  
“There’s my best girl.” you looked up into Bucky's face. He was smiling sweetly at you and running his metal fingers through your hair. You loved waking up to him, but this time was different. The ceiling beyond him was stark white and too bright to be your bedroom. Beyond the smell that was uniquely Bucky's was the smell of sterility. The noises were still there, persistent and constant, though the frantic beeping had died down to a steady, slow measure.   
“The ceiling looks different.” you managed to say, so many thoughts in your head and this was the one you chose to say out loud. Bucky chuckled and pulled back from his lean over you revealing more of the room to your eyes. White, clean, filled with equipment and an uncomfortable looking chair. You followed your eyes from the IV bag on your right down the tubes to where they were hooked into your arm.   
“What happened?”  
“Your appendix burst on the way to the party.”   
Like opening a floodgate the memories came back to you: you and Bucky getting ready, fixing his bowtie which was now nowhere to be seen, getting into the limo. Your stomach was hurting but you chalked it up to the tightness of your dress paired with the ungodly amount of cheese you ate earlier. You looked down at your stomach, encased in a starchy blanket and hospital gown. Underneath all those layers was your body, cut into and traumatized and one organ short.   
“I told the driver to come straight here after you passed out. They took you immediately into surgery. You only got out two hours ago.”   
“What time is it?” You groaned out as you tried to sit up, though your body was numbed from pain killers you could feel the stretch of newly torn flesh.   
“Three in the morning.”   
“We missed the party!” you cried. Bucky giggled and shook his head, the corners of his eyes crinkling in your favorite way.   
“I'm sorry we missed the party.”   
Bucky reached back and pulled the hard angled chair closer to your bedside before sitting down, his hand never leaving yours. He stared at you, fresh suit wrinkled, perfectly coiffed hair covered in flyaways, and dark circles under intense blue eyes. He was gorgeous.  
“You are more important to me than any party, darlin'”  
“Even a Tony Stark party?”  
“Absolutely.”  
You looked down and but your lip.  
“But you missed ringing in the New Year with your friends. And you didn't kiss anyone at midnight.”  
He placed a gentle, chaste kiss on your chapped lips, then one on your forehead, before placing a final kiss on the hand he held in his.  
“Better late than never.”  
You smiled, counting yourself lucky to have found a love like Bucky Barnes. You were about to tell him as much when you caught sight of the telltale half smile of a tease and mirthful glint in his eye.   
“Plus I did get a kiss at midnight. The doctor was very startled though. Don't think he liked me like that.”   
You laughed lightly, conscious of the way your stomach rose and fell. Bucky kissed your forehead again.  
You watched through heavy eyes as Bucky’s head lolled to the back of the chair, finally resting after a night of worry and fret. The doctor had come in to check on you, which made for a fun time as you watched Bucky play shy and awkward around the doctor who completely ignored him. He affirmed you would be out of the hospital in a few days. Your eyelids grew too heavy to fight off sleep, no matter how much you wanted to watch the way Bucky's chest rose and fell or hear those little noises he made when he was dreaming. You settled into the bed and gripped Bucky's hand tight, knowing he would be there with you always.


End file.
